


To Make You Smile

by PompousPickle



Category: King Of Prism, プリティーリズム | Pretty Rhythm
Genre: Cat Cafe, M/M, the saga of kakeru taking taiga out on dates that he doesn't know are dates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 15:40:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17531522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PompousPickle/pseuds/PompousPickle
Summary: “Heeey, Taiga-kyun, girls like cat cafés, right?” Kakeru leaned over on Taiga’s shoulder, wrapping himself around his neck until his arms dangled down to his chest.---The origin story of Taiga's contact picture in Kakeru's phone.





	To Make You Smile

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the twitter prompt: "KakeTai at a cat cafe".

“Heeey, Taiga-kyun, girls like cat cafés, right?” Kakeru leaned over on Taiga’s shoulder, wrapping himself around his neck until his arms dangled down to his chest. Taiga immediately reacted, struggling to get out of the other boy’s embrace.

“How should I know?! Don’t just come up to me saying weird things!”

Kakeru lunged for him again for another hug, and Taiga just barely managed to duck out of the way, jumping backwards before Kakeru finally stopped trying. “Hmm? I guess it figures you wouldn’t know.” Kakeru sighed, shrugging before reaching his hands into his pockets, digging around. “Then what about you? Do you like them?”

“Hah?” Taiga furrowed his brow, staring down the boy in front of him.

In way of answering, Kakeru pulled out two tickets and showed them to Taiga, fanning them out so that Taiga could accurately read the words. _Private reservations. Exclusive event. All cats on site._ Taiga narrowed his eyes, putting the pieces together in his head.

“I’ll be honest. It was hard to get these tickets. I really had to pull some strings. But for you, _my little kitten,_ I would do anything,” Kakeru smiled slyly, fluttering his eyelashes as he struck a pose.

Taiga’s eyes widened as he took a large step backwards.

“So? How was that? Did I make your heart pound? Any girl would fall for that, don’t you think?”

“You’re so loud, Kazuo,” Taiga finally sighed, feeling a little relieved. It had nothing to do with him, after all. He didn’t know the first thing about picking up girls. And quite frankly, he had no interest in learning. He wasn’t sure why the guy was always asking him for advice on things like that. He turned around, intent to work on his dancing somewhere a little more quiet. “I’m going out.”

“Ah-ha! No you don’t!” Kakeru reached forward, grabbing him by the collar in an instant. “Sure, I got these just to practice, but they’re real genuine tickets. It’d be a shame if I let them go to waste, right? I really meant it, when I asked if you liked cat cafés, you know!”

Taiga looked over his shoulder, his eye twitching. He moved his shoulders around, trying to shake off the other boy’s iron grip. However, everything he tried was in vain, and he held on tight. “Plus, I told you: my name is _Ka-ke-ru_.”

Taiga sighed.

\---

It was a nice café, as it turned out. It was fairly spacious, and there were tons of cats, roaming around freely. The place was well-maintained, and the staff seemed friendly. But more than that, he and Kakeru seemed to be the only ones there.

“You really rented the whole place out? Just to _practice hitting on girls_?” Taiga looked around as the staff handed them a menu of the cats that they had available. Taiga only briefly looked it over, before immediately handing it back to the woman.  

“I already told you, the tickets weren’t for show!” Kakeru winked, and Taiga only rolled his eyes, storming off into the main area to sit down. He knew Kakeru would be hot on his heels, but he didn’t care. There wasn’t anyone else around, so it wasn’t like he’d be able to hide for long anyway.

Plus, there were perks to being in the café alone. The cats all wanted Taiga’s attention. And Taiga’s attention alone.

A cat came up to him as soon as he took a seat on a nearby sofa. He was pretty handsome, Taiga decided. Black and white with a little white spot just above his lip. He reached out his hand to let the cat sniff at it. Before he knew it, the cat was pushing into his hand, begging to be pet. Suddenly, Taiga wished he kept the menu, wondering which cat this one was in particular.  

“His name is Chobi,” Kakeru chimed him, pulling Taiga’s attention up immediately. He gave a smug little smile, pointing at the laminated menu. “It says here that he likes to play with his friend Fukumori. I wonder where that one might be…” Kakeru put the menu down on the sofa, to go look around the café for Chobi’s friend.

As soon as his back was turned, Taiga grabbed for the menu, reading over every cat’s name and information in a hurry, trying to commit it all to memory. What they looked like, what toys they enjoyed, anything that he could learn.

“Ah! Here!”

Kakeru returned, with a little gray short hair squirming in his arms. “Found him!”

“Idiot,” Taiga spat out, surprised at the lack of malice in his own voice. He tossed the menu to the side as soon as Kakeru turned around, hiding all evidence. “That’s his brother, Kiyomori. Fuku has little white socks on his feet.” He stopped scratching Chobi’s ears for only a moment, realizing how overly eager he sounded. “At least…that’s…the staff chick told me.”

“Hoo hoo, of course, of course~” Kakeru laughed, putting Kiyomori down on the couch as well. This cat was a lot more lethargic, flopping over next to Taiga, snuggling against the warmth of his leg. Taiga moved his hand over to rub at the new cat’s ears as well, before Chobi took offense, climbing into Taiga’s lap for more attention.

“Ah! Found him! I think I got him this time!” Kakeru bounced over, placing another small gray cat on Taiga’s lap. Immediately, Fukumori and Chobi began to bat at each other playfully, rolling around as Kiyomori watched quietly.

“Hmm… there are way too many guys here, I think.” Kakeru finally spoke up. “We definitely need some ladies to get in on this, right Taiga-kyun?”

Taiga was about to argue, wanting nothing to do with any of Kakeru’s wild pick-up schemes. However, the orange-haired boy merely skipped off, returning in an instant with two female cats. Dropping them on the sofa next to Taiga.

And it continued like that, with Kakeru bringing him more and more cats until he was completely surrounded, from his head down to his toes. “There! I think that’ll do it.” Kakeru nodded to himself, taking in the scene, before sitting down on the couch next to him.

“What do you think you’re doing, Kazuo?” Taiga grumbled, grabbing for a cat toy to keep the cats at his feet entertained. “There are too many of them now. I only have two hands, idiot.”

“But they make you smile.” Kakeru leaned over, poking at Taiga’s cheek.

Taiga bristled, wondering why his heart had suddenly picked up pace. He didn’t notice, but he _was_ smiling. He wondered how long he had been, without realizing. Kakeru had realized though. Kakeru was watching him carefully, and Kakeru wanted him to smile. The mere thought made his heart beat even faster. Just what kind of game was that guy playing?

But before he could argue or say anything at all, Kakeru handed him another cat, orange with little white stripes. It was wiggling in his hands, playful and rambunctious. “One more~” Kakeru said in a sing-song, placing the cat on Taiga’s lap.

The cat almost immediately climbed up Taiga’s chest, nuzzling against his face. “Clingy,” Taiga muttered, grabbing onto him before he fell down. The cat wasted no time in pressing against Taiga’s cheek, purring in appreciation as Taiga tried to pry him away.

_Click_

Taiga looked over, to see Kakeru holding his phone up, with a cheeky grin on his face. Taiga shot him a glare, ready to fight back and force him to delete that photo even if it meant breaking the phone in the process.

But then Kakeru lowered the phone, and his smile shifted to something softer, more genuine. Taiga stared for only a moment. Their knees knocked together on the couch, their feet intertwined, with cats playing all around them.  But Taiga could only look at Kakeru.

The orange cat in his hands meowed loudly, demanding his attention. “You’re lucky my hands are full,” Taiga grumbled, feeling heat rush to his face, telling himself over and over it was just because the cats were pretty cute.


End file.
